What’s WebRTC and why is it leaking your true IP address

by James Stevenson ·
Published 21st February 2015
· Updated 18th April 2015

VPN’s and Proxys allow their users to search and browse the web anonymously, they do this by masking there original IP addresses. This is done by redirecting the user’s traffic through another device on the Internet.

However, a recently discovered security flaw allows remote sites to take advantage of WebRTC (Web Real Time Communication, a feature built in to most browsers) to reveal a user’s true IP address, even if they’re connected to a VPN. As far as we know, sites aren’t taking advantage of the flaw yet, but considering services like Hulu, Spotify, Netflix, and others are taking steps to identify and lock out VPN users, it’s not a stretch to assume they’ll start.